Skip to main content

Dusseldorf Marathon Pre-Race Press Conference and Streaming Info

Yuki Kawauchi and 2006 European 10000 m champion Jan Fitschen at the Dusseldorf Marathon press conference, Apr. 27.

by Brett Larner

Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) is set to make his European debut this Sunday at the 10th Metro Group Dusseldorf Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label event.  Kawauchi contacted JRN in late December last year to ask for assistance in finding a late-April race in Europe to do as a practice run for the London Olympics.  Following his failed bid to make the Japanese team at February's Tokyo Marathon he elected to commit himself to running Dusseldorf as a serious race.  Joining him is the best field assembled yet in Dusseldorf's short history, with one 2:06 runner and five 2:08 men plus defending champion Nahashon Kimaiyo (Kenya), two debutants with sub-62 half marathon credentials and a sizeable second pack of runners looking to break their home countries' Olympic qualifying standards.  Weather permitting, the out-of-nowhere 2:08:32 course record set by Iaroslav Musinschi (Moldova) in 2010 looks sure to fall.

On April 27 he appeared alongside German favorite Jan Fitscher and others to talk about his plans for the race.  "At the minimum," he told the media, "I want to break 2:10, but along with that I want to show that even though Kenyans and Ethiopians are superb athletes, Japanese runners can compete with them.  In Tokyo we went through halfway in 1:03:13, so if the first half here is 1:03:30 I don't think it'll be too fast, and if it's 1:04 I'll be very confident."  If he achieves both his time goal and the win Kawauchi will become only the second Japanese man to win a European marathon sub-2:10, 25 years after 1991 World Championships gold medalist Hiromi Taniguchi's 2:09:50 win at the 1987 London Marathon.  Kawauchi's training partner Saeki Makino (Kawaguchi T&F Assoc.) will likewise be making his European debut looking for a sub-2:15 PB clocking.

The Dusseldorf Marathon will be streamed live here beginning at 9 a.m. local time on Sunday the 29th.  Check back for pictures and further coverage of the race weekend.

10th Metro Group Dusseldorf Marathon
Dusseldorf, 4/29/12

Men
1. Nahashon Kimaiyo (Kenya) - 2:10:36 (2011 Dusseldorf winner)
2. Seboka Tola (Ethiopia) - 2:06:17
4. Joseph Ngeny (Kenya) - 2:08:10
5. Evans Ruto (Kenya) - 2:08:36
6. Duncan Koech (Kenya) - 2:08:38
7. Yuki Kawauchi (Japan) - 2:08:37
8. Abraham Chelanga (Kenya) - 2:08:43
11. Josphat Ngetich (Kenya) - 2:13:44
15. Saeki Makino (Japan) - 1:04:35 (half)
17. John Ewoi (Kenya) - 2:14:56
20. Jan Fitschen (Germany) - 2:15:40
22. Marcin Chabowski (Poland) - 2:14:32
23. Jose Moreira (Portugal) - 2:13:37
32. Stanley Salil (Kenya) - debut - 1:01:35 (half)
33. Tewelde Estifanos (Eritrea) - debut - 1:01:39 (half)

text and photo (c) 2012 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that  Sis
Post a Comment
Read more

Fujitsu and Toyoda Issue Statement on Circumstances of His Two-Year Suspension for Trenbolone

  Following 400 m hurdler Masaki Toyoda 's suspension for a violation of anti-doping regulations , the Fujitsu corporate team published a statement on its website, including comments from Toyoda's legal team , explaining the ruling and the circumstances surrounding the case. Toyoda was a member of the 2019 Doha World Championships team and holds a best of 48.87. Early in the morning of May 19, 2022, the Japan Anti-Doping Agency (JADA) conducted a doping test of Toyoda. The prohibited substance trenbolone was detected in urine taken during the test, resulting in a two-year suspension that began May 21, 2022. He did not compete at the National Track and Field Championships the next month. The amount of trenbolone detected in Toyoda's urine sample was 1.4 ng/ml, well below the minimum analytical precision of 2.5 ng/ml required by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for analytical equipment. As a general rule, if a non-specified prohibited substance such as trenbolone is dete
Post a Comment
Read more

“The Miracle in Fukuoka” - Real Talk From Yuki Kawauchi on “Taking on the World” (part 1)

http://sports.yahoo.co.jp/column/detail/201701120002-spnavi translated by Brett Larner Ahead of his nomination to the London World Championships Marathon team, Sportsnavi published a three-part series of writings by Yuki Kawauchi on what it took for him to make the team, his hopes for London, and his views on the future of Japanese marathoning.  With his place on the London team announced on Mar. 17 , JRN will publish an English translation of the complete series over the next three days. See Sportsnavi's original version linked above for more photos. Click here for part two, " Bringing All My Experience Into Play in London ," or here for part three, " The Lessons of the Past Are Not 'Outdated.' " The Fukuoka International Marathon was held on Dec. 4 last year. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov’t) took part despite nursing injuries he had sustained in training. Falling rain contributed to less than ideal conditions during the race, but from th
6 comments
Read more